June 15, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 14: Police accused a former minister on Thursday of harming a Canadian woman who died at their shared home.

Shahid Jamil Qureshi faces a charge of “harming a person” in the death of Kafila Siddiqui, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, Islamabad police chief Zafar Iqbal told The Associated Press.

“She was kept by him at his home against her will,” said Iqbal, adding that the former minister probably had no intention to kill her. “He (Qureshi) is right now being questioned. It will be clear soon how and under what circumstances Kafila Siddiqui died,” Iqbal said, adding Qureshi had not been arrested because he had obtained bail from a court.

At the end of the investigation, police will present the charge to a judge before it is formally laid.

Munawer Azeem adds from Islamabad: The report of autopsy suggested that Kafila Siddiqui’s lungs and heart were healthy and normal, which ruled out the possibility of a heart attack, the sources said.

The stomach and its contents were yellowish green which suggested a strong possibility that she might have consumed something ‘wrong’.

Medical experts said the yellowish green colour of stomach and its contents suggested poison or alcohol. Likewise, the colour of the vomit was also yellowish-green, they added. In the autopsy report, the time of death was not mentioned, the sources said.

They said Ms Siddiqui had three cellphone SIM cards – two Pakistani numbers and one Canadian. The Pakistani SIM cards have credit, but it is yet to be ascertained in whose custody the phones had been.

The numbers were last used on Feb 7, the sources said, adding that the received, dialled and missed call lists were empty, so were the inboxes of the phones.

Mustafa Qayyum, Ms Siddiqui’s brother, told Dawn that the former minister had called his brother Mujtaba Qayyum at around 9pm on June 9 and told him that his sister had died. After 15 minutes, Mr Qureshi called Humaira Saleem, his sister, and told her that Ms Siddiqui’s condition was deteriorating and he was bringing her.

The sources said Mr Qureshi visited the Shalimar police station on Thursday night and recorded his statement.

Talking to journalists, SSP Zafar Iqbal said police were waiting for the chemical examiner’s report which was likely to be received in 10 days.

He said police had added section 316 to the FIR on the basis of investigation and if the murder was proved then section 302 would also be added to the FIR.